Pitt-Bradford baseball field named to honor Repchick and family

The baseball field at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford now has a name – Repchick Family Field –to honor George Repchick ’82, his wife, Lynda, and their family.

Pitt-Bradford named the diamond Repchick Family Field in appreciation for the Repchicks’ generous donation to the university’s new artificial turf field project and their past support for the university’s nursing program and scholarships. The Repchicks and members of the Pitt-Bradford and Bradford communities helped to dedicate the field on Sept. 28 as part of Alumni and Family Weekend.    

“We are profoundly grateful to George and his wife, Lynda, for their very generous gift, one of the largest ever made by a Pitt-Bradford alumnus,” said Rick Esch, Pitt-Bradford’s president. “We also greatly appreciate George and Lynda’s friendship and longstanding support, which has enabled us to enhance academic programs, provide scholarships, and give our students opportunities they wouldn’t have had.”

Repchick is an entrepreneur who came to Pitt-Bradford from a small town near Scranton. One of his joys as a Pitt-Bradford student was playing for the university’s young baseball team coached (as were all teams at the time) by Dick Danielson.

“I fondly remember a lot about the baseball team,” Repchick said in an interview while wearing his genuinely retro 1980s royal blue Panthers satin bomber jacket with “George” stitched in cursive over his chest.

After graduating from Pitt-Bradford with a bachelor’s degree, Repchick went on to earn a master’s degree from the University of Scranton and embarked on a successful career in health care. 

In 2001, he and his partner, Bill Weisberg, began Saber Healthcare Group LLC by operating a single inner-city nursing home in Cleveland and growing it to more than 100 skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in six states. 
Additionally, Repchick led an initiative to develop and build state-of-the-art nursing homes in all of Saber’s markets. He also successfully co-founded businesses in the institutional pharmacy, oxygen and durable medical equipment, home health, ambulance, and even the restaurant industries.

Repchick stepped down as president of Saber in 2019. In January 2020, he joined Embassy Healthcare as CEO with a new business partner, Aaron Handler. Embassy operates a range of assisted living, adult day care, and skilled nursing and rehabilitation centers throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and North Carolina.

Today, he and his wife, Lynda, split their time between Cleveland and Sarasota, Fla.

“Pitt-Bradford had the largest impact on my development,” Repchick said of his motivation to give back to his alma mater. “I have always had fond feelings from the university.”

Repchick noted that Pitt-Bradford continues to excel at educating first-generation students and those with financial need, such as he was. 

“It’s a full-circle moment for me,” he said of the dedication. “The giving is truly a two-way street.”

The Repchicks’ donation helped support the creation of the university’s new Rathburn Family Field, an artificial turf field with stadium lights that allows Pitt-Bradford’s soccer and lacrosse teams to practice and play pre-dawn and post-dusk nearly every day of the year.

Repchick Family Field is home to both Pitt-Bradford Panthers baseball and the Bradford Area High School Owls baseball teams. Both Repchick Family Field and the Rathburn Family Field are part of the university’s Kessel Athletic Complex.

In time, the university plans to improve Rathburn Family Field further with the addition of a two-story building with a press box on the second floor and public restrooms, concessions and a dining area on the ground floor.

For information on contributing to future athletic projects, contact Joelle Warner, director of donor relations and stewardship at jaw104@pitt.edu or 814-362-5104.

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